News stories from Thursday February 7, 1974
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- A major breakthrough occurred in the Patty Hearst kidnapping. U.S. attorney James Browning reported that a letter from the "Symbionese Liberation Army" was received at a Berkeley radio station, claiming responsibility for Miss Hearst's kidnapping. The organization was unknown until two of its members, Joseph Remiro and Russell Little, were recently charged with the murder of an Oakland, California, school superintendent. [CBS]
- The tentative agreement to end the truckers' strike may not be holding. Many drivers rejected the agreement and the overwhelming majority of wildcat strikers may remain off the highways until fuel prices are rolled back.
The White House is going to take a tough stand on the strike and highway interference. The administration is prepared to use military force to keep trucks moving if necessary. Press spokesman Gerald Warren announced the formation of a new high-level task force to insure that the nation's highways are kept open. Transportation Secretary Claude Brinegar will head the task force. Deputy energy director John Sawhill stated his hope that the truckers will return to work soon, but warned that military force will be used to offset the strike if necessary. Attorney General William Saxbe is monitoring the strike closely to make sure that federal laws are not being violated.
The American Meat Institute reported that a serious meat shortage will be at hand if trucks don't start making deliveries. Meat packers and processors will be forced to close.
[CBS] - Transportation Secretary Brinegar said that federal and state laws pertaining to maximum truck sizes may be scrapped. With the energy crisis and slower speed limits, larger trucks may be the only answer. [CBS]
- The emergency energy bill faces problems in Congress; the bill is at a standstill. Representatives Gillis Long and John Young joined five Republicans today to prevent floor action on the bill in the House. Roadblocks in the Senate are also keeping the bill from floor action. Senators Lloyd Bentsen, John Tower, Henry Bellmon, Dewey Bartlett, Pete Domenici, J. Bennett Johnston, Robert Dole and Paul Fannin all denounced the proposed crude oil price rollback provision in the bill. [CBS]
- Prime Minister Heath of Britain took his struggle with the nation's coal miners to the voters by ordering Parliament dissolved and calling a general election for Feb. 28. The campaign, expected to be the bitterest and most divisive in recent British history, will test the Conservative government's determination to resist what it considers inflationary wage demands and the Labor party's claim that the government's anti-inflation policy is unfairly directed at workers. [New York Times]
- The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee announced that lawyers representing the committee and the President would hold an early meeting at the White House to discuss the extent of Mr. Nixon's cooperation with the committee's impeachment inquiry. Though Peter Rodino, the committee chairman, declined to speculate on the nature of the meeting, a Republican member said he was confident that "real cooperation would be forthcoming."
Vice President Ford said that President Nixon had assured him that a public release of key White House tape recordings and documents relating to Watergate was being "actively considered." Presidential aides and Senator Hugh Scott of Pennsylvania have said repeatedly that the White House materials would clear President Nixon of any involvement in the Watergate affair.
[New York Times] - After initially rejecting the demands of a guerrilla group that seized the Japanese Ambassador to Kuwait and other embassy officials, the Kuwaiti government accepted an appeal from the Japanese government to allow four guerrillas to be flown from Singapore in exchange for the hostages in the embassy. The four, who had been on a ferry boat in Singapore harbor after trying to blow up an oil refinery, belong to the same Palestinian and Japanese extremist organizations as the group that seized the embassy in Kuwait. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 828.46 (+3.84, +0.47%)
Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish. | |||||||||||||||
| Market Index Trends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
| February 6, 1974 | 824.62 | 93.26 | 11.61 |
| February 5, 1974 | 820.64 | 93.00 | 12.82 |
| February 4, 1974 | 821.50 | 93.29 | 14.38 |
| February 1, 1974 | 843.94 | 95.32 | 12.48 |
| January 31, 1974 | 855.55 | 96.57 | 14.02 |
| January 30, 1974 | 862.32 | 97.06 | 16.79 |
| January 29, 1974 | 852.32 | 96.01 | 12.85 |
| January 28, 1974 | 853.01 | 96.09 | 13.41 |
| January 25, 1974 | 859.39 | 96.63 | 14.85 |
| January 24, 1974 | 863.08 | 96.82 | 15.98 |